National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) is an autonomous organisation under Indian Ministry of Culture. It is the largest chain of science centers or museums under a single administrative umbrella in the world. There are 24 own science centers or museums and one R & D laboratory and training centre of NCSM, located in different states in India. Functioning under the Ministry of Culture (and drawing its funding primarily from it), the NCSM has been built to co-ordinate all informal science communication activities in the museum space in the country. Its raison d'etre is specified on the website as described in the section 'Genesis': The first science museum, Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM), Kolkata under CSIR43, was opened on 2 May 1959. In July 1965, the second science museum of the country, the Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum (VITM) was opened in Bangalore. After Kolkata and Bangalore, the work for the third centre in Mumbai was taken up in 1974. As the popularisation of science and technology through the science museums grew in scope and size, the Union Planning Commission constituted a task force in the early 1970s to assess the activities of the science museums. The task force recommended to set up science museums in different parts of the country at national, state and district levels and also recommended formation of a central coordinating agency. In 1978, it was decided by the Government of India to delink from CSIR the two science museums already operating at Kolkata and Bangalore and also the one being set up at Mumbai and put them under a newly formed society registered on 4 April 1978, as National Council of Science Museums (NCSM). Own units Birla Industrial & Technological Museum, Kolkata, inaugurated on 2 May 1959 Bardhaman Science Centre, Babur Bagh, inaugurated on 9 January 1994 Digha Science Centre & National Science Camp, New Digha, inaugurated on 31 August 1997 Dhenkanal Science Centre, Orissa, inaugurated on 5 June 1995 District Science Centre, Purulia, inaugurated on 15 December 1982 Kapilas Science Park, Dhenkanal, inaugurated on 5 June 1995 North Bengal Science Centre, Matigara, inaugurated on 17 August 1997 Regional Science Centre, Bhubaneswar, inaugurated on 18 September 1989 Srikrishna Science Centre, Patna, inaugurated on 14 April 1978 North Bengal Science Centre, Siliguri, inaugurated on 17 August 1997 Central Research & Training Laboratory, Kolkata, R & D laboratory and training centre of NCSM. Operational since 1